Morton Feldman: Triadic Memories

Triadic memories, what might those be? A three-fold retrospective? Tripartite recollections? Morton Feldman had quite different associations. He likened the progress of his composition to a stroll through Berlin, where he had spent a year studying in 1971 and had the impression that »all the buildings look the same, even if they aren’t«. Today, Berlin looks very different, while Feldman’s composition has retained its timeless validity. The piece begins with a three-part motif which is then varied throughout. The degree of rhythmic, melodic and harmonic changes is not subject to a fixed rule. Rather, the material is arranged in such a way that the listener is overwhelmed by any attempt to remember what has gone before. Disorienting memory until we lose ourselves within the notes, as in the self-replicating urban canyons of a metropolis – can a more succinct experience of the nature of music be imagined?

​Das Konzert im Radio: Dienstag, 31.05.2022, WDR3 Konzert, 20:04